Krugman: The Years of Shame

[EFerrari]

Is it just me, or are the 9/11 commemorations oddly subdued?

Actually, I don’t think it’s me, and it’s not really that odd.

What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. Te atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.

A lot of other people behaved badly. How many of our professional pundits — people who should have understood very well what was happening — took the easy way out, turning a blind eye to the corruption and lending their support to the hijacking of the atrocity?

The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/the-years-of-shame/

[Nye Bevan]

1. "Oddly subdued?" What was he expecting? Joyous? Party atmosphere? (nt)

[asjr]

2. BRAVO Paul Krugman!

[CarmanK]

3. RIGHT on Krugman, 9/11 was no Pearl Harbor MOMENT!

Pearl Harbor brought the country together to fight a common enemy who would destroy the world. And mostly, we can be proud of the accomplishments. However, 9/11 has been so exploited and bastardized that there is nothing our leadership can do to justify the misery and failure it wrought for self centered, profit generating corporate types who maximized their efforts to exploit "DISASTER CAPITALISM" AS Naomi Kline so well describes in her book.

[Douglas Carpenter]

4. excellent article!!

[adhd_what_huh]

5. balls....big giant super balls....calling a spade a spade.....damn!

[judy]

6. Thank you Pr. Krugman

For saying out loud what so many people think.
A reason for celebration could be that in spite of the attack, the country emerged stronger, more united, with good prospects for all Americans, and an understanding that Empire building always ends in disaster.

But instead, the Bush and now Obama administrations, have turned the horrible death of 3000 people into the horrible death of millions of innocents, and thousands of soldiers who were called under false pretenses.

We turned a crime into a bigger crime, and the perpetrators got away with it. Shame indeed.

[Pholus]

7. I was wondering when someone would echo what I was thinking in the media...

And of course it took the Professor to do so. Thank you. It doesn't lessen the tragedy or loss a bit, but those who used it for political ends have cost our country a lot of its spirit.

[judy]

9. Yes, and what they lost

and that Obama let go of as if it was unimportant, is the moral fiber of this country.
But maybe it is merely that the wolf in sheep's clothing, is now just a sick, rabid wolf, and everyone thinks it's OK.

[Owl]

8. Well said Mr. Krugman! K&R!

[lucca18]

10. Great article ...

....This is exactly how I am feeling.

[ProgressoDem]

11. The response to this article from the teabaggers is ridiculous.

Just check the "Tweeter":

https://twitter.com/search/Krugman

[BiggJawn]

12. And he closed comments for this article.

It's like he knew he'd catch a pantsload from the "USA! USA!" crowd and Cato-paid professional posters.

I was so glad to read his posting today, I was wondering if I was an a very small minority of people who are "over" all the media hoopla.

[Hawkowl]

13. True.

We have demeaned ourselves as a nation. We have done very little to redeem ourselves.

[EFerrari]

14. Instead of repudiating violence, vengence, or bigotry

we doubled down. A signal failure, and it continues.

/typo

[applegrove]

15. People who have Post Traumatic Strees Disorder often have muted emotions at times. Are you talking

about those people?